


He Can't Hurt You Anymore

by anidalah



Series: Kim's Life is Strange Drabble Compilation [6]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, PTSD, Panic Attack, drabble challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:05:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anidalah/pseuds/anidalah
Summary: Nathan’s eyes shot open and he saw nothing.





	He Can't Hurt You Anymore

Nathan’s eyes shot open and he saw nothing. He was tied up, again. Blindfolded, again. He was on the floor, at least he assumed. The place smelled too clean, too sterile, too much like a hospital.  He was sure he knew where he was.  He hoped he wasn’t there again, but he just knew.  He wiggled around, rubbing his face against the ground to try to get the blindfold off.  He freed one eye and saw white, bright white.  Shit.  Shit. SHIT! He looked around, taking in the photography space, and he knew that he was right, that he was in the Dark Room again. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t _breathe_.  His heart was beating so loud, too loud, that he could swear that he heard it pump, pump, pumping in his ears.  He had to get out.  He had to get away.  He wasn’t safe there, could never be safe around Mark Jefferson.  Things were bad enough last he saw Mark, in a courtroom, but things would surely be worse after his testimony helped put Mark away. He heard the door open, the familiar sound of Mark’s feet slowly pitter-pattering across the floor, drawing nearer.  Nathan’s heart pounded harder.  A sob escaped his lips.  He was hyperventilating.

And then, Nathan woke up for real.

There was a soft light. Hands moving about him and he tried to let out a scream but instead just cried harder as his breathing became more erratic.  His vision was hazy.  He was all but certain that he was going to pass out.

“Hey, hey, calm down. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

The voice was grounding, sobering, and he realized the hands were untangling him from the sheets and blanket.  The bed he rested on was haywire.  The sheets were wet and sticky and he realized he was drenched in sweat.  Tears streamed down his face.  He felt a hand on his back and tensed, surprised that he didn’t vomit on contact.

“It’s okay.  I’m here, Nathan.  You’re safe.”

Fingers trailed down his back slowly, nails scraping just enough to leave goosebumps but no marks. His breathing was starting to calm down as he tried to match it with the rhythmic tracing up and down his back. The tears, however, weren’t subsiding. They were violent, with blotchy cheeks and a runny nose.  He’d have a headache soon.  Eventually, that too slowed, and he was drawn back to the present, not trapped in the nightmare of what had happened years past.  It was only then that he felt arms wrap around him, pulling him in closer.

“I…  I had another nightmare.”  Nathan buried his face into the crook of Warren’s neck, inhaling the soothing scent.  Warren was always so calming, so mellow, so _perfect_. He didn’t know how Warren put up with his night terrors.

“I know, Baby,” was all Warren said.  He kissed the top of Nathan’s head, not even caring that Nathan’s hair was a sweaty mess. He kept his arms wrapped loosely around Nathan, not wanting to hold him too tightly in case Nathan found the tightness suffocating and panic-inducing.

“Mark was coming…  he was gonna-“ Nathan’s voice broke off into another sob.  He couldn’t finish that sentence.  He remembered all too well what Mark had done to him.  Sure, Nathan played a part in what happened with the Dark Room.  He fucked up.  He’d admit that.  That’s why he was sent to an asylum for a few years.  That’s why he still had weekly therapy visits and he was required, by law, to take his medication.  Nathan didn’t know how bad what Mark did was, though, other than the things Mark did to him. But Nathan thought he deserved it, even though it scared him, petrified him, was enough for him to still have the occasional nightmare about it over six years later.

Thank God he didn’t have to deal with it alone anymore.

Getting out, he was almost completely alone.  His father kept giving him money, sure, but that wasn’t enough to keep him sane. Victoria and his sister were the only people who kept in contact with him, but they were so far away.  Nathan, upon the encouragement of his therapist when he got the idea, made it his mission to apologize to everyone he’d wronged.

He didn’t blame David for refusing to forgive him, but Joyce did forgive him.  Max forgave him.  Kate, Kelly, most of the girls who went to the Dark Room forgave him.  They watched his case, some testifying, and it was hard not to forgive Nathan when he was mentally incapacitated during that time. At some point, Nathan went to apologize to Warren.  He’d been such an ass to him and they were both in Arcadia Bay, so it just made sense to try to make amends.  He never expected things to go as well as they did.

After all, it was only a few months ago that they celebrated their three-year anniversary.

During all that time together, Warren had gotten very good at calming Nathan down, preventing him from hyperventilating to the point of passing out or going down a line of thought that would lead to him becoming inconsolable.  Warren had been woken up by Nathan’s nightmares after only their second time sleeping together.  He expected Warren to run away at that point, but it seemed to only bring them closer.

Warren was perfect and Nathan didn’t know what he did to deserve him.

Warren held him until he was calm, until long after his breathing was steady and his shaking stopped. Warren only let him go when he mentioned that, because of all the sweat, he felt disgusting.  Warren insisted that he rinse off in the shower, that he’d feel better afterward.  He did and Warren was right.

There was a twinge of guilt in Nathan’s stomach when he returned to the bedroom and saw the time on his alarm clock.  It was so late, or early, at almost four o’clock.  Warren had to get up for work in only a few short hours.  He’d surely be sleep deprived, especially since he was gone from the bedroom and was out doing something else.

Nathan walked out of the bedroom, wondering where his boyfriend had gone off to.  Luckily, their apartment was small so he didn’t have to look far.  Warren was in the kitchen, heating up a saucepan of milk, two mugs and a few packets of Nestle hot chocolate on the counter.  Nathan stood for a moment, watching Warren carefully heat the milk, and he once again wondered what he did to deserve someone that wonderful.

After he’d made it into the kitchen, Nathan came up behind Warren and wrapped his arms around Warren’s middle.  Warren learned back to look at him and smiled softly.  Nathan kissed him on the cheek and pulled him in tighter, not wanting to let go.  For as long as Warren would let him, Nathan wouldn’t let go.

Nathan hoped that he’d get to hold Warren forever.


End file.
